How to control a Secret Rebel.
Prologue.
"You know what is expected of you today, dont you?" , his mother's voice was stern and her eyes cold as she made the final adjustments to his plain white dress and pulled the pink sash around his waist extra tight.
"I'm not an ignorant child, mother.", Haku spoke flatly, his eyes downcast.
"Good, then I shall expect no trouble from you." She pinched his elbow hard as a warning and briskly walked out the small changing room; she had more important matters to attend to.
Haku quietly sat down in a tastelessly decorated armchair in a corner of the room and sighed. He could do this, he had to do this. He looked down at where his knuckles were turning as white as the fabric his hands were clutching and forced himself to calm down. This was a happy day that would surely change his life for the better forever, at least that is what he wanted so dearly to believe. No!
He stood and stomped over to the full-length mirror. This was an opportunity he never expected to be given and he wouldn't squander it, not if he could help it.
He looked himself over in the mirror, turning this way and that, making sure no hair was out of place. He would be perfect, just as his parents expected of him, and when this day was over he hopefully would never have to see them again.
He put his long jet hair up in a high bun and added a touch of red gloss to his lips. Just one more day where he had to be quiet, polite, respectful and sweet. One more day of holding his tongue when surrounded by idiocy, of being forcefully charming and shy, of acting like a girl. He fluttered the eyelashes of his big, dark eyes at himself and ran his fingers over the smooth skin of his cheeks. A perfect little doll was looking back at him, and he resisted the urge to smash his fist through the glass; that's not how a lady would behave.
He needed air. The door of the changing room was locked, and he inwardly chuckled at that. He'd let his controlling mother believe that she held the reigns for long enough, and quickly pried the cheap lock open with the picking set he kept in his purse. While hating the small satchel he wore over one shoulder with the blazing power of a thousand suns, having all his little gadgets around wherever he went had proven to be usefull on his many nightly escapes from federal state parents' house.
Haku slipped out the door and onto the bustling hallway filled with party guests. After years of clinging to the shadows whenever his parents hosted a get-together he'd become a master of invisibility in crowds. He stuck to the walls, eyes downcast, smiling and nodding politely at anyone who happened to glance his way, and made it into the large wooded area surrounding the courthouse unnoticed. There, hidden by the old and twisted willowtrees, he fell apart on the cool grass. He rolled on his back, staring up at the endless blue sky and wished to be somewhere else, anywhere else, anyone else.
"Are you alright?", a gruff voice spoke from the shadowy base of a tree and Haku sat up with a start.
He backed up against the wall and gripped his knees to his chest; with his eyes glued firmly to the ground as always he squeezed out a "Yes, thank you."
After hearing no reply he managed to gather some courage and look up at the person who spoke. A few feet across from him a man's long legs extended from the shadows onto the sunny grass. He wore shiny leather shoes with black socks and as he took a drag from his cigarette its smouldering red tip pulled Haku's attention to his face.
Two intense grey eyes were staring back at him from under thick black eyebrows. The man's hands seemed big as they lowered the cigarette from his lips and one corner of his mouth shot up in a crooked smile before he blew the smoke in Haku's direction. The young man blinked against the cloud of smoke that hit his face hotly, but chocked back the urge to cough. "What are you doing here?", he asked the man who slouched down against the cool bark, crumpling his expensive-looking suit. "Same thing as you." The man replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his packet of smokes. He held it out towards the other and Haku, after some hesitation, took one. He found himself unable to look away; the man, who seemed to be in his late thirties, was so horribly out of place among the trees and flowers. But somehow this made him seem more approachable, and since Haku had no interest in being cooped up in that room until it was time for him to be paraded around by his mother some more he stuck the cigarette between his lips and gingerly took the lighter that was held out to him.
The man looked at him with a spark of interest in his eyes, and Haku couldn't help noticing the heavy golden watch around his wrist. He blamed his mother, she'd pushed him towards marrying rich for as long as he could remember. His eyes trailed up to the man's thick arms, strong jaw and nose and he wondered if a man like this, with eyes so vivid they seemed to burn right through him, ever had to deal with an obnoxiously controlling parent as well. When said man raised one eyebrow in amusement Haku realised he still hadn't lit his smoke and quickly started it up, sucking his lungs full of smoke for the first time. The raised eyebrow turned into a dark chuckle as he then fell into a coughing fit and threw the horrible deathstick into the wet grass while he gasped for air. "Not quite what you expected?", the man asked with a smile; and after a few seconds of catching his breath Haku pulled a face and shook his head, "Like breathing in fire...".
The man took a final drag and pressed the butt out on the ground next to him while blowing the smoke from his nostrils, he then extended and arm. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Zabuza."
Haku, feeling boyishly excited to be hanging out with someone he definitely categorised as 'cool', leaned forward and grabbed the roughened hand with a smile. "I'm Haku, nice to meet you." At moments like this when his brain got fried, he was always glad he had the basic rules of politeness to fall back on. "Haku." The man spoke his name slowly, as if he was tasting it. "You're the bride today, right?". Haku leaned back with a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, this is my wedding. Thank you for coming."
Zabuza did not let go of his hand, however, and brought the back of it slowly to his lips; "I wouldn't miss it."